After building the Tomatocade, my first MAME-controller ever, I've repeatedly found myself thinking of something other arcade related to build .. Well, you all know how it is, I quess..

So, here I am, RK'd again. Have to do something. As I don't really have the space or the tools needed to build anything too big or complicated, I've once again settled on a basic solution.. It will not be anything groundbreaking but at least I'll have something to do.. This time around I'll just try to make a (too big) two player bartop machine.

At the moment I have an 19" monitor (CRT) - too big (deep) - but at only 20E I couldn't help myself.. Also, a MB with a Pentium 3 500 Mhz with 512 Megs of RAM and integrated audio and (ATI RAGE PRO - AGP) VGA ..for about 6E! In addition, I've bought some 5/8" (16mm) MDF and yes, an old trackball mouse (about 1,5"), which I'm actually planning to use on this machine for some Centipede & Marble Madness etc.

So far I've only managed to set the monitor on it's side to figure out the minimum dimensions to make something resembling an arcade cabinet's top half around it (wish I had a spare TFT ;(

I've also found that my old reliable HPC912 camera won't for some reason work. So, no pictures of the "plans" now. I'll add pix soon, I promise, even if they were to be taken with my neighbors' camera ?

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Anyway, compared 2 Tomatocade:

1) The monitor only will weight about three times as much as the final Tomatocade!

2) I've no idea of a theme, let alone the graphics for the machine.

3) It'll be a two player solution.

4) I'll include a miniature (serial mouse) trackball!

5) I'll go by intuition mostly. (So there most probably will be problems enough..)

I forgot to mention in the first post but this is going to be yet another budget project. So, I'll be using old parts I have lying around and stuff I'm able to easily buy cheap ..IE. the monitor. For that reason I'll go with the big and ugly option

At the moment I have the cab profile sketched on a 70x80cm piece of MDF and yes, it'll be a tight fit with that CRT. So, the machine's dimensions are going to be: depth 70cm (27,5"), height 80cm (31,5") and width 58cm (22,85"). If I can't fit the monitor inside, I also have a 17" CRT that I got from a local PC-store for free. But that's the absolutely last option!

On the CP front you're close (but no cigar ,)I'm actually trying to fit all the controls into a 55cm wide and 23cm deep (about 21,5 by 9 inches) control panel ..trying to keep the box as narrow as possible. And so..

HELP NEEDED!While trying to keep the costs to a minimum and because I happen to like short throw joysticks I think I'll be using a couple of OMNI-Stik BASICs this time around. Only I'd need to know...

what's the OMNI-Stik BASIC's footprint? How much of the CP surface they'd eat up..?

The games on this machine will yet again be mostly the old classics, no MK, SF or the likes. The main thing is to be able to play some two player games also. Or maybe I'll upgrade someday..

Well, the camera is almost dead; Won't work with batteries or the original accu, F! Anyway, with the charger it still comes alive .. Should I make my next project a HP PocketBoxArcade? (At least DOOM runs on it)

Anyway, some progress on the "BIG & UGLY". I was not able to take pictures of my plans before I cut the first side panel, but here they are anyway After cutting the panel I just glued & screwed in the support strips for the cabinet's bottom and the monitor.

As I've probably already mentioned, this time around I didn't bother with a PC or a sheet of paper but just designed the cabinet profile straight to a piece of MDF. IMHO it looks good (so far) and yes, I know that I'm just begging for trouble with my approach.. On the other hand, problems just need to be solved?

Anyway, two more pictures of the machine's (probable) innards and stuff.

The integrated audio works fine in Windows98SE but in DOS I couldn't get it working no matter what I tried (No sound with various versions of Mame/doom/duke3d and then it works with wolfenstein..go figure), so I bought an ISA Soundblaster card for 1€!

So, I'm off to cut the other side and get to gluing & screwing the supports in place. Just wish that someone with Omnistik Basics could help with the dimensions...?

I'll try and keep the monitor's front casing in place as it looks quite nice as it is - at least with some black paint. The back cover I'll most likely take off regardless... (Probably have to, anyway ..)

Looks like this will be really cool. Few questions tho. How are you planning on fitting the MB w/sound card and the power supply in there? Doesn't look like alot of space between the monitor and bottom of the cab.

Also, what kinda software you going to put on it? Since you said Win98 are you gong to use a FE or what or Mame32 or....?

And did you just freehand the monitor outline and the cab profile? I like that.

You know you could turn that monitor on its side (little late now I see) and run a bunch of vertical only games. (Mr. Do! ) I think they look sweet that way. I got Vantage to work on a similar set-up but I'm not sure if it's supported anymore.

Logged

"I know what a HAL 9000 is... I was wondering if HAL 7600 was his retarded cousin or something..."-HarumaN

I've rough cut the other sidepanel now and will soon make sure they're identical - so sanding etc. on the menu )

Next I'll try to hack the trackball to see if it could be installed to the CP. If that goes wrong ..well, so be it - I'll need all the space available on that panel anyway.

No pix now as the other sidepanel really is not that interesting. Updates coming as soon as I'm through tinkering with the trackball mouse.

IG-88:

The ATX power supply is about 83mm and the clearance in the back is just about 90mm ..should fit just fine! The MB & soundcard need about 115mm at the highest point ..and I intend to place the MB near the front of the machine where there is about 135mm of space between the bottom and monitor shelf.

I have Win98SE installed, but only for maintenance needs as at the moment I'm using plain old DOS with Game Launcher for a basic MAME frontend (as with Tomatocade earlier). There's also DosCab installed for the machine to serve as a jukebox. Come to think of it, I could just remove the soundcard as the integrated sound works just fine in Win98 ..Not really an option at this time as the DOS software works fine and gives more FPS etc. without all the unnecessary stuff going on in the background.

I thought about making this a vertical only machine, as vertical games naturally look good/awesome that way, but well, 19" should suite this project just fine with horizontal as well as vertical games..?

On the design, I placed the monitor on its side on a piece of MDF and more or less just duplicated the profile on the wood. The actual cab profile is done freehand around the monitor drawing..

The trackball hack is (half) done and it seems that it might even work..

Before that, though, I've already made sure the cabinet's sidepanels are (more or less) identical and have attached the support strips to the "design" panel (see above)..

Not too interesting but here it is anyway ..first sidepanel being glued

So very interesting ...

So, back to the trackball again..

While searching for more info & ideas I happened to find this site (Tom's MAME Cabinet) using the forum's search, but forgot to bookmark the actual thread where it was mentioned. Anyway, check out Project Lunchbox

Anyway, I couldn't do it quite the same way as he did as in my case the cup that the ball rests on is built into the bottom half of the plastic cover, not on top the circuit board. The machine screw idea, and with it, the option to fine tune the ball's depth with them still sure looks handy ..

After all the spying and stuff, what I actually did (after decasing the contraption) was to cut roughly half of the TB casing's bottom part off and then remove as much plastic as possible from the front part of the casing, to be able to install it as low on the CP as possible. The trackball's hacked width is just about 80mm (3.15"),so.. Seems that I'll have to add it to the design

Control panel: With "55 centimeters = 21.6535433 inches" (Google) of width I'll, more or less along the original idea, make a two player panel with a small trackball in the center. As the panel also has to double as a jukebox controller I'll need at least 4 buttons per player? In addition, to be able to play Defender (MUST!), player 1 will need 2 more buttons (don't want to spread the controls too far apart..), so.. six (6) buttons there? Guess I'll need a couple more days to fit all that into the space available while still making the CP anything near playable.. And no, nothing more on the trackball hack at this time.

So far: I've actually assembled the box/top/cab/whatever! First, though, a couple of pics of the machine's insides, in their place but still unattached.

Front view

Back view

Soundcard in place, with room to spare

And.. 1st assembly! The horizontal support doubles (again) as both a structural support and the back of the "marquee box".

Another view of the same. Here you can see the whole structure.. as it was. The panel on top of the CRT is not attached to anything, but there just for "design" purposes, in case I'd need it to secure the monitor better to the cab..

Booty ..Too big!

The CRT with the plastic cover had no chance, it had to go. So here's the next try: Same CRT without the cover.. and another 13mm - 1/2" saved!!

Not enough! Forgot to take pictures of the front but still. No way to install the CP or any kind of bezel with that S. Not even tight.... Anyway. And I really thought I'd get away with this..

1mm to spare & no CP..

So, I had to lose the metal covering also.

And here we have it! It's NOT EVEN TIGHT!!!

Is it?

Anyway, There seems to be room enough for the CRT and the CP -simultaneously,even- so all hope is not (yet) lost. Next I'll most probably have to hack the soundcard's circuit board to have my own way with the volume knob..

Another pic of the Creative speakers I'm using:

And yes, painted (sprayed) the CRT front black. Kept the front plastic cover in place as it doesn't look that bad?

The pix suck I know, but I think I've managed to find a layout that looks like it might even work given the narrow space available. See for yourself ..ALL ideas appreciated!

First off, here's a picture of the "design panel" where you can see the original CP idea(?) - really, there's only about 17cm (6,7") of usable vertical surface with the support panels in place. Well..

Anyway, I'll still try and make a two player panel with the miniature serial trackball in the (almost) middle. So, here's my design for a multipurpose CP..

WHY, you ask?

Well,

- 3 main buttons/player to be able to play virtually all the classics.. 1player & 2player games alike!

- 4 buttons/player to have all the basic DosCab functionality.. ABCD-1234 (Works best on 640x480, IMHO) and the few games with 4 buttons..

- 6 buttons for player 1 to be able to play Defender & Stargate ..and scores of others, CPU permitting?

- No other explanations at this time

- (Mental problems, maybe?)

So, the layout..

The joysticks, trackball and the player's A/1 buttons are all horizontally aligned. In addition; player 1 buttons are rotated 15 degrees CW and player 2 buttons 15 degrees CCW along the A/1 axis to (hopefully) make more room for two player gaming. (See the picture above.) I'll also change my design to add more space under the trackball - so, another 4cm (1,5") to the CP. A curved front it'll be

Here's a picture of the first 1:1 print of the CP.

And another picture of the same prototype, this time attached to the actual CP panel to be. Might work.. Whaddya say?

So far I've been only designing the panel, so, do comment on the layout while there's still time So far I haven't touched the wood in any way. The design is still subject to change (without prior notice, of course ..) for a few days, at least.

And if (as) you're wondering how in the ?*? I'm gonna play Defender & Stargate with that P1 layout, here's my idea of a space saving & playable layout for those classics:

- "The layout looks like it'll work, .." & ".. I think 21" is tight for 2 adults to play for too long.."

I was hoping someone said just that. And yes, there's not too much space for two adults, that's too true, but with the 15 degree rotation (assuming the players are also situated accordingly) I'd like to think there is still just enough room for the occasional two player game?

- ".. maybe a tad confusing for your average person using player 1."

Yeah, I know. If I'll go with that layout I'll definitely have to use colors.. As in the above proto, I'd use red buttons for the main controls (ABC & 123) and black ones for the rest. And some kind of instruction sheet might also be helpful..? Or, what the Ef, I'll just tell the people to "Just use the RED buttons" ..?

Well, so far no layout changes.. Point out the obvious flaws, please! /

As to the Defender/Stargate layout, your proposition really makes sense. Configured that way the panel could at least remotely resemble a Defender layout. Sure to try that config out, as soon as the panel (and the machine) is ready. Then again, it depends on the player's references; If they want to use their right hand to control for even the hyperspace function then the player 2 joystick would be in the way .. What I personally had in mind was to forget the original Defender/Stargate layout and control it all using just my right hand..? Vision yourself playing the game(s) situated at the center of the panel/screen ..I think that the prototyped fingering then would make more sense? One hand to cover all the button controls on Defender, that's the sacrilege I meant before.

theCoder:

"Did you get a discount.."

Almost funny

Had to do a double take on the pix above.. So, you are referring to my use of the machine screws/bolts as shown in the pictures above.. Well, I do have quite an assortment of screws available.. In addition to the trackball hack there are only ten (10) machine screws in this machine's carcass; Six of them are situated at the top keeping in place the pine panel doing double duty as both the marquee light's base and as an additional structural support. The last four are at the lower back to likewise lend some rigidity to the whole structure.

In addition, the monitor and control panel supports and the bottom plate guides are screwed in place the same way. As the monitor itself weights about 20Kg/44 pounds, I'd think that the "in from the outside" approach justifies itself with it being the stronger solution of the two alternatives? All the other supports etc. are glued/screwed in place from the inside. Actually, there are 14 screw/bolt heads per side on the outside. Shouldn't be that big a problem to hide them..

What do you think?

Anyway, a couple more pics again.

Here's the newly cut curved control panel and the support/admin panel to go under it. And, the battery on my drill died halfway through on the volume knob, of course!

What's all that white stuff, anyway?

On another note altogether, after I managed to recharge the batteries I drilled the holes for the main administration buttons. These will be situated under the newly designed & cut CP's "lip". The admin buttons will all be black as will be the panel under the CP. This way no-one will (probably/hopefully) be interested in them..?! The buttons are, from left to right: delete, power & backspace.

And why?..

Delete, to be able to ctrl-alt-del the machine, in case..

Power, to power up the RK'd after it being altogether off-power

Backspace, to power ON/OFF the machine

The power button will be recessed a few mm's to prevent accidental use. Like the reset buttons on PC's are/used to be.

Next picture shows the admin panel fully drilled. The hole on the right is for the volume knob, yet to be hacked.. And under that is the 2,5mm hardboard (fibreboard?) panel that'll go between the admin and bottom panels. The hole in the center is for the air intake fan ..We'll get to that later, maybe?

Paint on the sides & black self adhesive vinyl elsewhere ..if all goes well, that is. Along with the paint option I have an side art idea that includes some paper, lacquer and water...

Then again, after buying the blue paint a few days ago it just happened that a local store had an assortment of the vinyls on sale... and yes, this time they had some blue also.. 1.99 Euros per sheet/roll (45cm x 145cm), so less than 4 euros to cover the cabinet sides - had to buy the stuff, just in case

It really isn't that great looking, compared to the red on Tomatocade, but now I at least have a plan-B in case I'm not satisfied with the results..

I've actually taken about 150 pictures of this abomination so far.. So, a few for the fellow builders.

I'll make a website later if anyone's interested ?

After the last update on the B&U / RK'd, quite a lot of has happened;

1st - I've decided that the main colors will be blue and black (nothing new here, really)2nd - The cab's sides will not be painted or covered with vinyl/laminate.. Something else it'll be.. 3rd - The marquee has to be re-designed ..More info as soon as I'll get to it. More problems surely..4th - The theme will be Bombjack!

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First things first: Swiss cheese?

I've actually added two more buttons for player two, therefore adding the number of "player buttons" to 12. Not much, but then again, it's quite a small CP. Still not sure if I'll actually drill those additional holes.. What do you think?

Well, anyway, even though the current PC (P3-500MHz) is way under the requirements of Visual Pinball and the like, I've still added all the necessary pinball buttons to the sides to be able to at least play the old Pinball Fantasies etc.. while waiting for the necessary motherboard/CPU updates to happen

While the machine is no way near operational, It's at least assembled and standing on its own. More pix & stuff to follow.

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Volume control hack:

Just waiting to be zapped!

Off, eventually!

New wires soldered in place

And the other end..

The hacked volume pot, along with the speakers & a bottle of local beer

The volume knob's head/top reaches just 4mm over the admin panel's front. Accessible & out of the way..?

Say what you want, but this time (what ever you want) favored me!! 55cm inside width with a 19" PC CRT ...Just take a look?!

That was too easy, too lucky, so after a while trying to get as lucky with the CRT bottom I gave up and made the CRT a kind of duck's feet

Not anything to write home about but that hack works! Don't even ask if they're strong enough ..I've already both dragged & lifted the whole contraption by holding only to the plastic on the CRT.. Seems to be robust enough..?!

The monitor hack (bottom left) ..Yes, that one won't win no beauty contests, but it does its job more than adequately!

Flipper buttons.. The main buttons are your usual arcade button while the tilt buttons will all be miniatures.. I don't have a router of any kind, so all the "routing" seen in any of these pics is either done by hand or, as in the flipper button case, by using two different size drill bits from opposing sides...

The CP to be.. Just waiting to be drilled.

So, the drillmarks are in place and I've decided to make the machine more or less blue. What's next?

Here comes .............

JACK!

Three options. I've played with them too much already .. What do YOU think?

NO timeline. So far (not counting the time I've "designed the machine on my mind") I've been on it a couple of weeks (2 and a half..) ..But, the more I get done the slower the going will be. Then again, I knew that when I started to build a bartop/tabletop cab with no real design/blueprints !!

Well, I asked for trouble..

My photo editing software seems to have developed some kind of machine epilepsy, so not half the pictures I would have otherwise included are available at the moment. Maybe later..

Please, do comment on the best CPO version as I'm all undecided between the versions above. Well, maybe No2 ..or then again No3 with 2Jacks as there's more room for the background.. Oh well..?!

I like the concept of your cp. If i had to pick i would say 3 just so you get to see his face clearly. Its disappointing how all the buttons are positioned over his face, basically ruining the picture.

I like the concept of your cp. If i had to pick i would say 3 just so you get to see his face clearly. Its disappointing how all the buttons are positioned over his face, basically ruining the picture.

I have to agree here with one additional comment. Have both bombjacks at an angle like player two. You could even mirror them. That way you have room to move things around a bit. You can use a bomb for the trackball in the middle, the ball is blue anyway.

The problems with 1 and 2 is that so much of his face is covered with the buttons. A few of them would be ok, but it really does hide too much. I do like how the joysticks are in each of his hands - thats cool. Are you a dust washer over or under kind of guy?

Of the 3 you presented, I like #3 the best also. The only thing that bothers me about it is 2 bomber jacks. Do you think an explosion or a bomb with a fuse would be out of place?

By the way, very good artwork. In truth, any of them would look good on the cabinet. What about the marquee?

arcadefever:Thanks, got really lucky on the top monitor supports They're just a perfect fit and now the monitor is at least centered!

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Control panel graphics and layout..

I've been trying to come up with a better graphic solution than the v3 above ..but seem to be coming back to it no matter what...

steveh & Kaytrim:Yes, I was worried of the same thing, but while the player 1 buttons do obscure Jack's face the second Jack in my opinion, everything considered, more than makes up for it!?

Kaytrim: The problem is, I really don't have room to move things (physically) around (See above posts, it really is a small panel ..) Another thing; as the control panel's button layout is nowhere near symmetric, the idea of making it work by mirroring (or horizontally/vertically flipping) the Jack image ain't as easy as said.. Believe me, I've tried "a few" solutions.. And after the idea of making Jack hold the controls in his hands I really don't like "an unused hand" on the CP ...

I'm the first to admit that I'm no graphic designer, but still ..the third option seems to be the best (I'll post a couple of others in a few days ..) and after some time trying out options you suggested even I did recognize the reason; Look at the CP as a whole... Even with the versions 1 & 2 the CP seems at least a little left or right heavy, etc.. But, the v3 seems to help make that asymmetric layout a balanced one?

On the other hand, using a bomb for the trackball is a really good idea, thanks! Gotta try and see if I'd be able to come up with anything usable with the cherry... If I'll keep the v3 graphics though, Jack would have to be holding the bomb in his hand?... Maybe he just catched it..

leapinlew:You're absolutely right on the problems with the v1 & v2 layouts. Jack holding the controls was the initial idea I had... And to answer the "Two Jack Dilemma" ..three main controllers, one jack with only two hands ..well, maybe it's the evil twin brother (and with twin brother I'll get away without even coloring them differently ..) Do NOT even suggest I should try differing color schemes on the twins Been there, done that, no go ;(

Not a reindeer in sight this time but a major update with quite a few pictures.

I've now actually reached a point where I'm not sure whether to start designing the final graphics for the bezel and marquee or to just go on and finish (detail work) that dusty pile of wood & metal I've got grinning at me. Both? Well..

Anyway, to the RK'd:

The woodworking part of the build is at least 95% done and the cab needs some detail work done before it's time to get it sanded/painted/sanded/painted/san...

The marquee is "a bit" different from what I initially had in mind and will most likely become a problem when designing the final graphics..

Well, the pix:

Control panel drilled and waiting for the trackball.

Trackball installation. Not much of a hack otherwise as I'll just need to solder a couple of wires to buttons on the CP to make it work..

Installing the trackball..

The trackball in place..

Same thing seen from above the CP

And with the ball and a couple of buttons in place..

Another angle..

No power tools? No router? F! it, I did this groove (bezel retainer) with the knife in picture while watching yet another rerun of some old sitcom..

And here it is in place ..after a good fifteen minutes of rounding it ..manually with a 6mm drill bit's base-end..

Tight fit? Had to shave/tear about 2mm off the bezel support to fit the CRT in it's place ;()

No router.. Meant to make a round 90mm opening for the exhaust fan but while doing it with a 25mm drill bit the following shape just had to be left there.. Ie. I'm lazy, couldn't be bothered to file/grind/sand it down Also in the picture; the part of the Creative speakers that I'll recycle as a finger guard for the fan.

1st shape ..2nd shape! It's the "hole" for the PSU fan. Yes, it's in the back and no one will ever see it.. So?

Angles, anyone? Marquee ..!

Them angles were made not with any fancy power tools but with...

And finally the speaker panel I've yet to do with the tools I have at hand..

Well, budget is budget is budget.. as in recycling stuff at hand and not buying any, not really necessary, gadgets I wouldn't need otherwise

I've never, so far, really needed too many power tools.. and while it would really make things easier I don't really think that to build a working bartop, or to play one.., anyone needs but good eye-hand coordination

Actually, in my opinion/experience, the build process is more or less equal to playing the finished cab. And yes, I really like the tinkering..

Here's my marquee. No name, no color coordination... But, the bombs are here at last! The space between the black borders is the actual "viewable" area. At the center it's about 1" ... Might be too much!?

Might have overemphasized the "no fancy power tools" part in earlier posts for I do have/use all the usual equipment, ie. jigsaw, powerdrill, a dremel set etc. It's just that I don't have a router Then again, MDF is such soft material that I've been able to do everything without one.. It's actually quite rewarding to successfully finish a piece or a detail by hand..

wow, look at the dedicationi've spent a few years on my arcade and you pop something out that's further along (albeit, much smaller) in a couple weeksthere isn't a mall in the world that would keep my girlfriend occupied enough for me to get that much done